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Monday, 18 March 2013

Official Statement By Cardinal Napier On Stephen Nolan Show

Cardinal Napier

I post below this statement which I received via email today, Monday 18 March 2013 at 10:06 SAST, directly from Cardinal Napier. I publish it here, unaltered, exactly as I received it from Cardinal Napier.

STATEMENT ON STEPHEN NOLAN SHOW

At the
outset I confirm that I fully uphold the Church’s position that:

a.Sexual Abuse of Children is a horrendous crime against Children,
their Families, the Church and Society.

b.It is to be dealt with according to the requirements of civil
criminal law and Canon Law.

c.Accordingly once the existence of an offence has been verified by
thorough investigation by independent investigators engaged by the Professional
Conduct Committee, the matter is reported to the civil authorities, either the
police, a Child Welfare Officer or a Social Worker, so that civil criminal
action may take its course.

d.Once civil action has been concluded the local Church submits the
case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

e.Action determined by CDF is carried out.

BBC
Radio 5 Live Interview

On
Friday night at about 21h45 I received a request from BBC Radio to speak on the
election of Pope Francis. As I had done more than a dozen times I agreed.

The
interview conducted by Stephen Nolan for Radio 5 Live began with a general
discussion of the Conclave, the atmosphere in the Sistine Chapel, etc. Then
Stephen asked what Pope Francis needed to do about reforming the Church with
particular reference to Sex Abuse of children. I accepted the question as I had
done with other interviews.

I
spoke about my own experience. In the early 1990’s expert medical opinion
was that paedophilia was a condition that was treatable, even curable.
Therefore offenders could return to ministry after treatment. With experience
that medical opinion evolved to saying that while offenders could be treated,
their condition was not curable; indeed even treatment was not always
successful. Therefore return to ministry was not an option.

To
illustrate the complexity of the issue, I raised the question of the offender
who had himself been abused, and with one particular case in mind opined that
he needed treatment rather than punishment. That’s when the wheels came
off.

I now
stand accused of saying that paedophilia is a mental condition or disorder and
not a crime. At least twice I stated that I was not qualified to say what
paedophilia is. I was afforded no time to explain that the priority of pastoral
concern must always be for the victim. But that has been overlooked in the heat
of the argument.

The
point was and still is: Child Sexual Abuse is a heinous crime among other
things because of the damage it does to the child. In that concern I include
the abused who has become an abuser.

Whether
he needs medical help as much as, if not more than punishment, is a question
that is still to be answered by medical experts? Does the damage suffered by
the abused in any way affect his culpability before a court of law? Again only
the experts can give us the answer. I am not qualified, but don’t I have the duty to ask on behalf of the abused abuser that he be
given treatment even while in prison?

Subsequent
to the show I called Stephen on Saturday without success. Eventually at about
23h30 someone from Radio 5 Live phoned to say I could go on the Show to clear
the air. That was done, but not too successfully as the interview once again
became an interrogation.

I
asked to speak to a superior to complain formally about the deception of being
asked to speak about the election when the agenda was Child Abuse. The senior
editor Paul passed me on to Philo who gave me a chance to listen to the clip
recorded earlier and make further clarifications.

While
I issue this statement to give the background to the interview and also to what
the Church is actually doing about Sexual Abuse of Children, I apologise
sincerely and unreservedly to all who were offended by the botched interview,
and especially to those who have been abused and need every help and support
that the Church can give.

Nothing unusual , the Pharisees tried the same sort of thing with Our Lord. The Cardinal quickly spotted the pitfall. However, there are none so blind as those who do not wish to see. Steve Nolan should be punished by being publicly sent to Coventry by every Catholic. Starve him of the sensation he wants.

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I am a South African Catholic who was disabled by a rare lung disease at age 42. Need bilateral sequential lung transplant. Took up blogging to keep busy because I am tethered to an oxygen machine 24/7 and restricted in my activity.

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